More family photos!

Aaron Macoombie

Hannah

Sarah

Penina

Mama Ruth

Elijah, the watchman

Joseph

My family (minus Ivan)

Roger and the cows

Joan

Family Pictures

Here are some photos of the family I'm living with for the next 2 weeks

Aaron, Hannah, Penina

Sister Joan

Mama Ruth in the kitchen

Sister Sarah holding Joseph, and Hannah

Hannah Holding a Chick

A friend hanging out in my room

Our fabulous school lunches/dinners

Home-Stays and Such

Today is hot. One of those days that as soon as you walk outside the sun feels like an oven on your exposed skin. I’ll take this over winter, but it makes me just want to lay out with the smell of salt and the sound of the ocean in the background. The smells here are instead of red dust, burning garbage, whatever is cooking on the street and other bodies. This is Mukono.

Classes at UCU have been really great so far. I’m enjoying them immensely as it’s challenging my perspective on culture, religion and life in general. Just being here has been challenging my perspective on life... In classes, we’ve been discussing things from our own personal expectations to the African mindset of politics, religion, family, etc. The (good) conversations I’ve had with most of the Ugandans have also revolved around these issues. It seems like there is a genuine interest in social change, and the students on campus really seem to be striving for social justice started from within.  Some people are hopeful that the next generation of leaders will bring about the change that everyone desires, while others are skeptical and cynical. It’s pretty interesting once you realize that people are the same everywhere. Our skin color and living situations may be different, but kids are kids, students are students, parents are parents – even here in Uganda.

This past weekend, those of us who are living on campus got taken to stay at local homes for two weeks. During this time, we will be part of a local family while attending classes during the week. Other than all being within 50 minutes walking distance, these families are as different from one another as possible. Some of these homes are very western with very “modern” families, while others are what most Americans would probably call a “typical” African home. I’m in a “typical” home. On our compound is a main house with a dining room (used loosely), living room, three bedrooms and a bath room (not a bathroom, a bath room – a small room with a drain). There is another building that has the kitchen (loosely), a room to hold the chicks (I’ll explain in a minute), a storage room and I believe another bedroom. Another building houses the latrine (probably my least favorite part). There are two buildings for the chickens and another for the watchman. My family consists of Mama Ruth, her husband Ronald (I think), her children Ivan (20-22?), Joan (17), Sarah (14-15?), and Hannah (6). Also living with us is Aaron (2), her nephew, and the watchman, who is Emmanuel (I think). She also has two children who no longer live with us, Richard, the doctor, and Irene the teacher. I may be meeting them sometime next weekend. Mama Ruth raises chickens and sells the eggs, I think she has between 200-300 chickens; each chicken house is the size of the main house. Ronald is a mechanic. Ivan goes to University for business and helps with the chickens and the cows (Oh, we have 2 cows: Sarah, named after the daughter, and Isaac, Sarah’s son), Joan and Sarah are both in high school and Hannah is in primary school. Oh, they gave me a new name too, Nasali (is NOT pronounced nasal-y, fyi).

My host family has been so wonderful in trying to incorporate me and make me feel welcome in their home. I am so appreciative, but the transition has not been easy. I thought I was pretty adaptable, but apparently not as much as I expected. I am trying to learn though, they showed me how they cook, I got to peel sweet potatoes and matoke without a peeler, and I’ve been able to help with dishes. Other than that, I feel very out of place considering my skin is a different color (which I think scares Aaron), I can’t speak the language and I have no idea what’s going on most of the time. Mama Ruth and I were talking about how in America, we rely on machines for everything. Our kitchens have machines to cook, wash dishes, store food. We do laundry with machines, most people vacuum instead of sweep. Our showers run when we turn them on without our thinking twice about it AND they give us whatever temperature we want! Side-note: I did get to have a hot bath yesterday; it was pretty wonderful, even if it was out of a bucket! Dumping the warm water over my head felt SO good J Ok, so even in the past few days, going without has made me realize how much of who I am is dependent on that. How much my happiness is dependent on my comfort. Which pretty much makes me a total jerk. The people who have been living with families the entire semester have said that the awkwardness goes away, so I’m counting on that, but for right now the adjustment is more difficult than I would like to endure. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures of my family and our house later this week.

Fun fact: The border of Kenya and Tanzania (look it up) has a “blip” in it because Queen Victoria wanted to gift Mt. Kilimanjaro to her nephew. Who cares about the people already living there, right?!

A day in the life of a USP student.

Beginning with one of the mundane details of my life so far here in Mukono, Uganda: Getting ready for bed, I just washed my feet. They were really tan, as I’ve spent a fairly decent amount of time outside…until I washed one foot and it became significantly less dark than the other. The red dirt is very deceiving…and our feet get REALLY dirty from walking around everywhere. So foot washing before getting in bed is a must.

We got our placements for our social work sites. I didn’t get the one that I was hoping for, the school with an agricultural program, and was pretty bummed. That’s actually an understatement, however, I was told by another student that the school they placed me at also had a big agricultural program and was really excited to have a foreign student (me) interested in working with it. That news totally made my day! It came at a perfect time, since there were a few things I was starting to get discouraged about, the practicum site being one of them. We begin our first home-stays on Saturday. All of the students will be placed in the home of a local family for two weeks. Some students live with families for the entire semester, and after hearing their experiences, I’m both excited and a little nervous.

I’ve also had the opportunity to meet more Ugandan students; some of those experiences have been discouraging, but thankfully there have been many other encounters that have been really nice. My friend and I were discussing the fact that the good encounters seem to be based on mutual respect. Many times, random men will begin a conversation by stating their name, immediately followed by the request for contact information (phone, email, facebook). As a woman in a culture where women are generally seen as less valuable or important than men, it’s difficult to be so openly objectified. It becomes pretty obvious when someone (men) is genuinely interested in being friends, or they are just being “creepers” for lack of a better word. The other evening, in the dining hall, a man came and sat down next to me and without introducing himself began to tell me about the customs of his tribe regarding marriage. The conversation began with him telling me how men didn’t want intelligent/educated women for wives (which is why many of the women on campus are single, in case you were wondering) and continued to: how men in his tribe were able to “test” potential wives – including making sure they could birth children and run a household (if they were able to bear children, but were not able to take care of the house, the men didn’t have to marry them). It basically spiraled downward from there. We’ve been discussing in some of my classes being open and intentional in building relationships. It’s really important to consciously not make unfounded negative judgments, but it’s difficult when you have a negative experience to not project that onto other people. It’s not fair to the people I haven’t yet met, and in fact there are many Ugandan students who I’m beginning to get to know that are wonderful people! It helps to remember that there are good people and there are “creepers” at home too. It’s just that the social cues that we use to let people know we are not interested in entertaining them are not picked up quite as easily here. It’s also helpful to remember that in the “intentionality” of building relationships that we are all made in the image of God. Making broad assumptions about people based on some initial negative experiences does not show people the love and respect that they deserve. And while I will not be seeking out my friend who was so anxious to fill me in on tribal marriage customs, being willing to meet and talk to new people without any presuppositions (!) about who they are is the first step in forming Godly relationships across the cultural boundaries.

And finishing off this evening with some other day-to-day things: I still don’t have a roommate. Good/Bad? I haven’t decided yet. Rice and beans/peas/groundnuts is starting to get old. Thankfully, the “canteens” on campus have opened and they serve different things. They even have real brewed coffee, and while it may not be the best coffee in the world, I would probably rather drink brewed dirt than Nescafé (no offense to Nescafé drinkers). They also have smoothies and milkshakes, not quite what we’re used to, but wonderful when you have rice and beans (and sometimes some greens) for lunch and dinner every day. I’m trying to get myself to like bananas. They are EVERYWHERE, and while there is a lot of other fresh fruit and vegetables, most things need to be cut and stored, so practically bananas would be handy – I just have to start liking them first. I had the opportunity to try fried grasshoppers today; they are surprisingly not bad – kind of taste like a big sunflower seed. There’s a seamstress down the road from campus, so I’ve gotten some material and she’s making me a skirt. A few of us took a walk up to Prayer Mountain the other day, it has a really beautiful view of the whole area, and lots of monkeys. I think that’s about it. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Love and miss you guys! 

Fried Grasshopper

View from the road to Prayer Mountain

My friend Chelsea and I

The way to Prayer Mountain

Trying out some pics

My Room

Aero Beach, Entebbe, Uganda 

 Entebbe Backpackers Hostel, Uganda

Village in Entebbe

 View from UCU, Mukono, Uganda

 Laundry Day!

It's just like home!!

Adjustments

Well, it’s Thursday and I’ve had three classes so far. Faith in Action – which really focuses on how we live in a cross-cultural setting and being consciously aware of our interactions with others, because it’s not only what they do that seems strange to us, but everything we do seems strange to them; Cross-cultural ministry practicum – we should find out our sites tomorrow, First choice was a children’s home/school for the blind where they have a big agricultural program (YAY!), second choice was working with street kids in Kampala, and third was another school for visually impaired children. We also have to do a presentation on a local aid organization and my new friend Emmy and I are going to look into some programs that focus on sustainable agriculture since her house mom has been involved in that for quite some time. (Side-note: Everything is green here! Everything grows, there are crazy trees and flowers and it makes me very happy.) This morning was my first class on “East African Politics since Independence” – I’m really excited for this class, taught by my only Ugandan lecturer, because as he said this morning ‘politics effects every area of life.’ In America, politics exists while the majority of the population tries to ignore it, it works like a machine that gently hums in the background and we have no idea how important it actually is until it stops working (I am not exempt from this statement). Here, though, like everything else, politics sometimes sputters, power shifts, sometimes the machine needs a good kick or a lit match to get going and other times it fails without reason. I’m really excited to get a view on African politics, from an African, in Africa.

Students have also started arriving as general classes begin on Monday. I still don’t have a roommate, but others have come in. It’s nice to meet them and I’m really looking forward to getting to know and living with Ugandan students. Those I’ve met so far have been wonderful, maybe not as much the first year girls who said my friend and I looked like hooligans and dumb because we have piercings (so far, everyone else has assured us this is not the case, and another Ugandan friend even told us those girls were “fakeness”). I do, however, feel a little scandalous today because my skirt is really short, it doesn’t cover my knees entirely.

There’s this part of me that feels like retreating. Just the newness of everything is tiring and overwhelming, and I know that will change, but at the moment it feels like too much. Then, we talk about being “intentional” in building relationships. Which I totally believe in, it’s going to take some effort on my part. But when I’m exhausted as it is, it can be really difficult to try and make new relationships instead of rely on solitude. God has been calling me to trust in Him, that He will take care of me through the good times and through the times that have been and will be hard. He keeps reminding me that even though so much feels uncertain right now, everything will work out according to His plan in the end. I want to trust that, I want to believe it, but honestly I’m having a really difficult time doing so. I have to admit, that there’s a really big part of me that is attributing man’s actions to God’s nature. I know this is not correct, but I can’t help but feel sometimes that God has done certain things instead of recognizing that people did them. I feel as if I have been burned by God himself, and am having a hard time trusting that His plan is better than mine. 

Tomorrow, we will be getting a mini retreat – going to a hotel with a pool for the day. It is much needed, the past week has held a months worth (or more) of sensory information, and time away, not moving, traveling, reading, figuring out the town, will be really nice. I’m excited for what lies ahead. I’m excited to get into the swing of things and get used to this way of life. Every now and then, as I walk to/from the library, my dorm, or class it hits me that I’m really attending school here. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s challenging, but it is and will be good J

The first few days in Uganda

Where to begin? The past week has felt like an eternity, not in a bad way. So much has happened, so much is different; it’s sensory overload and my mind and body haven’t quite caught up yet. That being said, the only thing I’m not really fond of here are the cold showers and non-western toilets – they still have some getting used to. 

Amsterdam was uneventful. Beautiful, yet unique(?) city. Entebbe was gorgeous! We ended up staying there several days while the rest of the group arrived. During our time, we were able to go to the beach, walk around a small village on the water, and rest - Huge help in getting adjusted to the time. Once everyone had gotten into Uganda, we boarded a coach bus and headed about an hour and a half away, to Mukono, where we will be spending the majority of our time. There ended up being a bishop’s conference at the school, so the girls living on campus (my group), were put in temporary housing until tomorrow (hopefully), when we will settle into our permanent dorms.

The people here have been so wonderful, both the study abroad students and Ugandans alike. Yesterday, after church, we were able to go into Mukono town and hunt around for some things (fruit, laundry soap, toilet paper) and learn our way around a bit. The sights, smells and sounds are so different from everything we’re used to in the US and it’s beautiful and exciting, but exhausting at the same time. There’s so much to process, so much to learn, so much to experience – my trouble is taking time to get used to everything, so I’ve been tired a lot. We had our first Rolexes, not the watches, but the food. They were delicious. We bought some passion fruits and mangoes and “pancakes” and saw the local butchers and fish markets.

Everything grows here. There are mango, avocado, jackfruit, and banana trees all over campus. The green here is so vibrant and stands out in such contrast to the red dirt (which gets in and on everything). It’s a gorgeous landscape. Since the rainy season is ending, we’ve had pretty nice weather so far. It has rained, and it has poured. I love it, the sky just opens up and it sounds like you’re under a waterfall. I can see it growing old, though, so thankfully dry season is beginning.

The Ugandan people have been so friendly. The children seem to really enjoy running after us yelling “Mzungu” J Everyone on the street stares, it’s like we stand out or something, so I’ve pretty much taken the approach of ‘smile and wave at everyone’. The students we’ve met so far on campus have been really friendly, talkative and helpful. They have given us tips for the semester and how to cut up and eat jackfruit – which is interesting. The UCU students arrive on campus Wednesday, so it will be really nice to have more people around.

God has just been so gracious in everything, easing my fears and doubts. My fellow study abroad students are all fantastic, and the administrators and other people involved in the program have been so helpful and understanding, which is making this whole process of transition so much easier to handle. Hopefully everything will settle down a bit in the next week. Thanks so much everyone for the prayers. I am very thankful for you in this journey and always!